1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lock apparatus, more particularly to a lock apparatus which has a relatively simple structure to simplify the manufacturing process and assembly thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional lock apparatus 1 which is mounted on a door panel 2 to permit locking of the door panel 2 to an adjacent door frame 23. As shown, in the conventional lock apparatus 1, an elongated escutcheon 11 is mounted on an outer side 22 of the door panel 2. The escutcheon 11 is formed with upper and lower fastening posts 112, and a spindle hole 111 between the fastening posts 112. The door panel 2 is formed with a spindle hole 25 aligned with the spindle hole 111 in the escutcheon 11, and a pair of fastener holes 26 aligned with the fastening posts 112, respectively. A lock core unit 12 is mounted on the escutcheon 11 adjacent to the outer side 22 of the door panel 2. The lock core unit 12 has a cylindrical shell 121 extending into the spindle hole 111 and retained on the escutcheon 11 by means of a retaining ring 113, and a key operable lock core body 122 mounted on the shell 121 and operable by a key 123 that drives axial rotation of the lock core body 122 relative to the shell 121. The lock core body 122 has a drive end formed with a non-circular axial drive hole 124. A lock housing 13 is fastened to an inner side 21 of the door panel 2 by means of a pair of screw bolts 130. The screw bolts 130 extend respectively through a pair of fastening posts 137 in the lock housing 13, the fastener holes 26 in the door panel 2, and engage threadedly the fastening posts 112 of the escutcheon 11. The lock housing 13 has a mounting wall 131 parallel to the door panel 2, and a surrounding wall 134 that extends transversely from the mounting wall 131 toward the door panel 2 and that cooperates with the mounting wall 131 to confine a receiving space 135 in the housing 13. The surrounding wall 134 is formed with a notch 136 which is disposed adjacent to the door frame 23. The mounting wall 131 is formed with a circular mounting hole 132 which is axially aligned with the spindle holes 25, 111 in the door panel 2 and the escutcheon 11. The mounting wall 131 is further formed with a pair of diametrically opposite rivet projections 133 offset to the mounting hole 132. A latch actuator 14 is mounted on the lock housing 13 at the mounting hole 132. The latch actuator 14 includes a disc portion 141 retained at the mounting hole 132, an eccentric actuating rod 143 projecting from the disc portion 141, and an operable knob 142 formed on the disc portion 141 opposite to the actuating rod 143 and projecting from the lock housing 13 via the mounting hole 132 to permit manual operation of the latch actuator 14. A latch member 15 is disposed movably in the lock housing 13 adjacent to the notch 136. The latch member 15 is formed with an elongated slot 153 that permits extension of the actuating rod 143 therethrough, and is provided with a torsion spring 154 adjacent to the elongated slot 153. The torsion spring 154 has a biasing leg 155 that extends across the elongated slot 153 and that abuts against a circumferential surface of the actuating rod 143. When the operating knob 142 of the latch actuator 14 is operated to cause axial rotation of the disc portion 141 in the mounting hole 132, the latch member 15 can be moved by the actuating rod 143 to project from the lock housing 13 via the notch 136, or to retract into the receiving space 135 of the lock housing 13. The lock housing 13 is further mounted with a coupling member 16 and an L-shaped retaining plate 18. The coupling member 16 includes a circular disc 161, an axially extending sleeve 163 connected to the circular disc 161, and an axially extending flat spindle 17. The circular disc 161 has an eccentric coupling hole 162 that has the actuating rod 143 extending therethrough. The spindle 17 has a first end 172 extending into and engaging co-rotatably the sleeve 163, and a second end 171 extending through the spindle hole 25 in the door panel 2 and coupled to the drive hole 124 in the drive end of the lock core body 122 for co-rotation with the lock core body 122. The retaining plate 18 includes a first plate portion 181 parallel to the mounting wall 131 and formed with a circular opening 183 which is aligned with the mounting hole 132 in the mounting wall 131 and which permits the sleeve 163 and the spindle 17 of the coupling member 16 to extend therethrough. The first plate portion 181 has diagonally opposite corners formed with through holes 184 (only one is visible) that permit extension of the rivet projections 133 therethrough. The rivet projections 133 are punched after extending through the through holes 184 for securing the retaining plate 18 on the lock housing 13. The latch member 15 and the disc portion 161 of the coupling member 16 are retained between the mounting wall 131 and the first plate portion 181 of the retaining plate 18. The retaining plate 18 further has a second plate portion 182 perpendicular to the first plate portion 181 and disposed in the notch 136. In use, the lock apparatus 1 is operable from the inner side 21 of the door panel 2 by operating the knob 142 to move the latch actuator 14 to a locking position, where the latch member 15 projects from the lock housing 13 via the notch 136 and extends into a latch groove 24 formed in the door frame 23, thereby locking the door panel 2 to the door frame 23, and to an unlocking position, where the latch member 15 is retracted into the receiving space 135, thereby unlocking the door panel 2 from the door frame 23. The lock apparatus 1 can also be operated from the outer side 22 of the door panel 2 by operating the lock core unit 12 with the use of the key 123. Since the latch actuator 14 is coupled to the lock core body 122 by virtue of the coupling member 16, it can thus be driven by the key-operated lock core body 122 to move between the locking and unlocking positions. As the biasing leg 155 of the torsion spring 154 abuts against the circumferential surface of the actuating rod 143, the latch actuator 14 can be retained in the locking and unlocking positions.
However, in order to mount the torsion spring 154 on the latch member 15, the latch member 15 is formed with a spring hole 157 adjacent to the elongated slot 153 for retaining the torsion spring 154. The latch member 15 has one side opposite to the latch actuator 14 and formed with an abutment shoulder 158 adjacent to the elongated slot 153 to permit the biasing leg 155 of the torsion spring 154 to abut against the abutment shoulder 158 when the torsion spring 154 is disposed in the spring hole 157 during assembly, thereby positioning the biasing leg 155 so as to facilitate assembly of the latch actuator 14 to the latch member 15. In addition, the latch member 15 has another side facing the latch actuator 14 and formed with another abutment shoulder (not shown) for positioning an opposite leg (not shown) of the torsion spring 154. Therefore, the latch member 15 has a relatively complicated structure, and the assembly of the latch actuator 14 to the latch member 15 involves complicated and labor intensive tasks. Moreover, the retaining plate 18 is secured to the lock housing 13 by means of the rivet projections 133 via a rivet joint process, which further complicates the manufacture and assembly of the lock apparatus 1.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a lock apparatus having a relatively simple structure so as to simplify the manufacturing and assembly processes thereof.
Accordingly, the lock apparatus of the present invention includes a lock housing, a latch actuator, a latch member, and an elongated spring plate. The lock housing has a mounting wall and a surrounding wall that extends transversely from the mounting wall and that cooperates with the mounting wall to confine a receiving space. The mounting wall is formed with a circular spindle hole communicated with the receiving space. The latch actuator is mounted on the lock housing, and includes an operable rotary disc and a spindle which is connected to the rotary disc and which extends rotatably into the receiving space of the lock housing via the spindle hole. The rotary disc is operable to rotate the latch actuator about an axis of the spindle between a locking position and an unlocking position. The spindle has a positioning section which has a non-circular cross-section and which is disposed in the receiving space. The positioning section has a peripheral portion formed with a flat first positioning surface and a flat second positioning surface that is angularly displaced from the first positioning surface. The latch member is mounted movably on the lock housing, and is associated operably with the latch actuator such that the latch member projects relative to the lock housing when the latch actuator is moved to the locking position and such that the latch member is retracted into the lock housing when the latch actuator is moved to the unlocking position. The elongated spring plate is mounted in the receiving space of the lock housing, and extends in a direction perpendicular to the spindle. The spring plate abuts against the first positioning surface to retain the latch actuator in the locking position, and abuts against the second positioning surface to retain the latch actuator in the unlocking position.